Up the Creek
by Nobadi-liek-u
Summary: Sometimes, White found out that night, things just didn't go the way you planned them to. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, after all.


White stood in front of her big mirror and looked herself up and down one last time.

The dress was very pretty - a strapless sky-blue one that hugged her curves very nicely and matched her eyes. She'd put a little blue flower in her hair to go with it. Her makeup was done just right, and she'd had her hair trimmed. It fell loosely down her back to her waist, rather than being in the usual ponytail and cap. And her heels -

"This _sucks,_" she moaned to herself, sitting down on her bed. "Who am I kidding?"

The dress was uncomfortable and showed far too much skin. The flower itched, the makeup felt gaudy and fake, and while she was grateful for the fact that her hair covered her bare back and spared her a little bit of embarrassment, she had way too much of it for it to be practical. It kept getting in the way of every movement she made. Oh, and the heels pinched and she sucked at walking in them. She liked to dress _other people _up, not herself.

She sat there on her bed, sulking and feeling sorry for herself. "Oh, well," she finally said aloud.

'_It could be worse. At least I get to spend the evening with Black…"_

White doubted her best-friend-recently-turned-boyfriend was looking forward to this event any more than she was. He hated fancy dress and formality just as much as she did. But...it was still nice to spend time with him.

They had started dating just a few weeks after Black had been released from the light stone. It had just felt like the natural thing to do - it felt so right. But their relationship was still very new, and it still felt a little bit cautious and fragile. Black was pretty shy when it came affection and romance, so they'd both been tiptoeing a lot - they'd held hands a few times, but nothing more than that. In fact, this was supposed to be their first actual date - Not the movies, or dinner, or a walk in the park. A _formal dance. _Terrifying.

White lay back on the bed and smiled lightly at the ceiling. _Look at it more positively. This is so romantic - Any minute, my gallant prince will be here to sweep me away to the ball-'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a _**CRASH **_from the roof.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," said White, pressing a hand to her temple to suppress the vein that was surely popping out. A very sheepish-looking Black and Brav sat in front of her.

Brav's left wing was hurt - he wasn't able to extend it fully. "You two decided that a session of aerobatics practice was more important than - I dunno - _Brav being able to fly us to this dance? _What were you thinking? Not to mention the fact that you could have been hurt - you could have been _killed, _guys!"

"You look nice?" Black tried. White stared daggers at him until he shrunk back into the couch.

Black tugged at his collar and looked down at his shoes, clearly ashamed. He looked handsome in his suit, but White didn't care about that right now - she was _mad._ "We're really sorry, Prez. But...this means we don't have to go, right?"

White glared at him. "Don't you _dare." _she sighed. "I don't want to go to this thing any more than you do, sweetheart, but the Elite Four invited us, and it would be rude to turn them down - especially since you're the reason they're _doing _it." That was true. The dance was for Black - to celebrate his escape from the Light Stone. Black had protested, but the Pokemon League had insisted.

Black scratched his head. "But how can we get there? Barbara's too small for both of us to fly on…"

White shuddered. "I have...an _alternative method _of transportation. We won't have time to stop at the Pokémon Center, so Brav can stay here until we get back." She glared at Brav. "Be good... _or else." _Brav tried to make himself look very small.

Turning back to Black, she said, "Come on. We're gonna be late."

* * *

They stepped out into the garage and Black stopped dead in his tracks. "No," he whimpered at the horror before them. White's car. A rusted out, beat-up, scrap-worthy hunk of metal. No air conditioning, no airbags, no stereo.

"You can drive?" moaned Black. "Since _when?" _

"A lot can happen in two years, Black," she replied. "Now get in!"

Black tried to open the passenger door, and the handle broke off immediately. He looked up at White, pleading. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry a thousand times. Please don't make me ride in this deathtrap."

White got in the car and opened Black's door from the inside. "We're going, Black. Let's just get this over with," she growled. Reluctantly, Black got in the car.

It took a few turns of the key to get the vehicle started, but soon they were out on the road. '_Great,' _thought Black. '_Nothing better than a long car ride with an angry girl.'_

They drove on in silence. As they crossed Skyarrow Bridge and entered Pinwheel Forest, Black started to fidget in his seat uncomfortably.

"Oh, _what is it?" _White snapped at him.

"There's a spring poking me in the butt," he complained.

"Suck it up, hon. We have a long way to go, and that's only if -"

An enormous din suddenly started up from under the hood. Black smoke started pouring out of the bonnet, and the car slowly ground to a halt in the middle of the forest road.

"-If we don't break down," finished White.

There were three seconds of silence, and then White wailed "NOOOOOOOO!"

Black very quietly opened the door and stepped out of the car as White pounded the steering wheel with her fist. He popped the hood and propped it up as White stepped out to join him.

"Hmm…" He said, rubbing his chin.

"What? What's the matter with it?" White asked frantically.

"I don't know anything about engines," Black laughed. White turned on him sharply.

"Are you taking this seriously? We're not going to make it on time - oh, who am I kidding," she sighed crossly. "You don't care about that."

White tried calling Bianca on her Xtransceiver, but couldn't get any bars. Of _course _she couldn't. And all of a sudden, it became too much.

"_**AAAAAARGH!"**_ she yelled into the air, before stomping off into the woods.

"Hey, Prez, where are you going?" Black called after her, but she ignored him. It was all she could do to keep from yelling at _him._

"Stupid dress, stupid shoes, stupid party, stupid car, stupid _Black," _she muttered to herself as she tripped and stumbled through the brush. Reaching a small clearing, she finally loosened her left shoe and kicked it away, out of sheer frustration. She then watched as a curious Pansage hopped out of the bushes, picked up the shoe and toddled off with it.

"Great. Take the other one too, why don't you!" White yelled, pulling off her other shoe and punting it in the direction the little monkey had gone.

She stood there for a second, huffing and puffing, not quite able to believe how terrible her luck had been this evening. What on earth had she done to offend the gods of luck? Despite herself, a little laugh began to bubble in her throat. Soon she was giggling and crying in a very unhinged sort of way, wondering if she had finally snapped.

After a few minutes, her tantrum was interrupted by the telltale crashing sounds of an approaching boyfriend, charging through the woods looking for her. "Prez? Prez! _White!" _He called out, plowing out of the brush and into the clearing, pokéballs in hand. He stopped promptly upon seeing his very upset girlfriend cry-laughing under the moonlight.

"There you are. I've been looking for you forever…" He said, approaching cautiously. "Don't run off on me like that. I was worried about you. You don't have any Pokémon with you. What if you'd been attacked?" Her pokéballs hadn't fit in the little purse that came with the dress. She'd had to leave all of her Pokémon behind. Black still had pockets, the lucky jerk.

White wiped her eyes with her hands and smiled just a little, still rather annoyed with Black but at the same time grateful to him for being so sweet.

"Are...you okay?" He asked gently.

White glanced at him, but didn't turn around. He was all scratched up from the underbrush and his suit was ripped and dirty - she supposed she didn't really look much better. She laughed and choked out a sob at the same time. "...No, Black. I'm not okay. I'm having a really, really, _really _bad time right now." She looked down at her now tattered and dirty dress. "My car's on fire, My dress is a mess, a _monkey _took my shoes, and now we're spending our first date out in the middle of the woods instead of at a _dance. _Gosh, could this night get any worse?"

Black blinked. "First...date?"

White whirled around and looked at him. "What? Yeah, Black, this is our first date. Don't tell me you…" She trailed off.

Black waved his hands defensively. "No, I didn't forget! I just…never really thought of it that way?" He cocked his head to the side and frowned. "...Huh. Yeah, I guess it is? Weird."

White stared. "You're unbelievable," she huffed, crossing her arms. "How could you _not _know that?"

Black stepped closer, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Well...we've spent so much time together since I...got out," he said - White noted that he still didn't like to say the words "Light Stone" for fear of upsetting her. "And...before that, too. We were always together for months. I guess it didn't really register with me…"

White said nothing and glared at the ground, tears forming again around her eyes.

"Hey," said Black.

"What." she replied flatly.

"Is that why you were so determined to go to this dance? Because it's our first date?"

White rolled her eyes. "No, actually, it's because I just _love _skimpy dresses, and painful shoes, and all that jazz. Of _course _that's why, Black. And now it's ruined." She sniffled again. "Even though I hate all of that stuff...It was supposed to be romantic. And now look where we are."

Black clenched his fists and grinned. "Oh. Well, if romance is what you want...we can still do that."

White eyed him curiously. "What? How? What could possibly be romantic about this stupid place?"

"Take a look around you," he said, nonchalantly. "What do you see?"

White wiped her eyes and did a 360. "Trees. Grass. Bug Pokémon," she sighed, glaring at a Venipede that was nosing around the edge of the bushes.

"Look up," Black said. White turned her attention upwards and gasped. "Oh. Oh, _wow."_

The sky was alive with stars - all the ones that Castelia City's lights drowned out. Out here in the middle of nowhere, there was no light pollution, and they shone with such brilliance that it took her breath away.

"Yeah, uh, okay," She said after she'd gotten over her shock. "I'll give you that one. It's beautifu- Ah!" She looked down and jumped back a little - Black had come over to stand right in front of her without her noticing. "H-Hi."

Black furrowed his brow, and then pulled something out of White's hair - the little flower she'd put in to match her dress. "It's ruined. Gimme a second..." He searched the ground for a minute, and then came back to her with a similar blue flower. She smiled despite herself as he threaded it into her hair. "There. All better."

'_Oh my gosh, he's the sweetest thing I have ever seen. It shouldn't be possible for one boy to be this sweet.' _It wasn't very often that Black was this openly affectionate.

Black looked into her eyes and grinned. "May I have this dance?" he asked, extending a hand.

White blinked. "Huh?"

"What, too formal?" He said cheekily. "Dance with me!"

"Black, there's no music, and I'm barefoot," she giggled. "Can you even dance _with _music?"

Black looked offended. "Of course I can dance! I wouldn't ask you if I couldn't!"

White looked at him for one second, two seconds, and then slowly took his hand with her own. "Woah!" She yelped as he pulled her forward into his chest.

Slowly, they started dancing. After a few steps, it became clear to White that _no, _he couldn't dance. He didn't know where to put his hands, or how to keep time, or how not to step on her feet.

"Oh, dear," she muttered. "Maybe it _is_ a good thing we didn't make it there." She looked up at him. "Have you ever danced with a girl before?"

"No, Prez." He said. "I figured it couldn't be that hard, though…"

White laughed and hugged him around the waist. "You absolute _dork. _You were going to go to a formal dance without knowing the first thing about dancing?" she pulled back. "Well, someone has to teach you, I guess. Here." She laced her fingers through his with one hand, and moved his other hand down to her waist. "Hands go here." She smirked at the blush on his face. "Now, we go around in a circle, like this…"She counted out the beat and lead him through the dance. He improved a little, and White smiled.

"You look happier," Black noted. Subtly, she pulled him a little closer, pressing her body against his.

"You do have that effect on me, after all," she whispered. "I'm...I'm sorry for losing it like that, Black. I didn't mean to snap at you earlier. You're always so sweet and kind to me...I shouldn't get angry like that over one mistake."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Prez," Black said. "You were right - it was stupid. I should have been more careful." he sighed. "I don't deserve to be with you if I don't place your feelings over dumb stunts like that…"

"Black...of course you deserve me." White frowned. "Being with you...nothing makes me happier. I promise." They had stopped dancing, White noticed in the back of her mind. But she didn't care - she was lost in the brown eyes inches from her own. Gently, she reached up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

Black didn't react. "Oh no," White giggled nervously. "Did I break you?"

"...That was our first kiss," Black said dumbly.

"Was it...alright?" '_Idiot. You aren't supposed to kiss him until the _third _date, and you just did it on the first. What is he going to think of that-'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Black pulling her in for another kiss. This one lasted a little longer - just long enough for her to note that he was a much better kisser than he was a dancer.

When Black drew back, White beamed at him as more tears sprung to her eyes - tears of happiness, this time. She looked up at the stars again. "Black?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know the constellations?"

"Yeah. Why?"

White looked back down at him. "Wanna show them to me?"

Black smiled softly. "Nothing would make me happier, Prez."

As White lay in the grass and watched Black pointing out the star patterns to her, she thought about what had transpired over the last few hours. It was funny how such a horrible day had turned out like this. She looked over at Black, who was eagerly explaining how to read star charts. It was because of him, after all, that she'd realized something new tonight. He was her anchor. When the going got tough...she knew, now, that she could count on him to be her lifeline.

"It's your fault," she whispered happily.

"Huh?"

"...Nothing. Show me that one again?"


End file.
